1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a reinforced flexible hose and more particularly to a shower hose.
2. Prior Art
A known hose of this type comprises a thin-walled inner hose with reinforcements which has an outer hose, consisting of thermoplastic or elastomeric material, provided thereon. The reinforcements are connected to the inner hose by means of a heat-activated glue (EP 0 099 999 B1).
In order to reinforce the inner hose so that a pressure-resistant reinforced hose built thereon remains light and flexible, but can also be made especially strong, axial reinforcement bands, which are made of a heat-activated glue or a glue-coated plastic and which have textile threads, are disposed on the helical support as a solid layer. These bands (called reinforcement bands or bands for short) allow a secure connection especially between a helical support on the inner hose and the outer hose, without other adhesives. The bands reinforce the outer hose of such a very light and flexible hose so that the hose does not tear, even when the hose is frequently bent.
However, these bands have the disadvantage. They do not make it possible to achieve a high-gloss metallization of the surface of the hose, which is frequently desired in bath and sanitary facilities.
Accordingly, an attempt has been made to give a metallic appearance to such hoses. However, these attempts have not been completely satisfactory.
Thus, it is known for a flexible reinforced plastic hose (with inner and outer hoses which are made of plastomeric or elastomeric material and have axial reinforcement threads and further with a reinforcement band that is made of a relatively hard material and disposed between the inner and outer hoses in the shape of a helix with axial separations) to have the reinforcement band enclosed by a jacket made of a relatively soft plastomeric or elastomeric material (DE 30 17 326 C2). This reinforcement band can have a metallized surface. However, the inner hose, which is not metallized, can be seen in the intermediate space between the helix of the reinforcement band, so that the metallized surface is interrupted.
A similarly imperfect impression of overall metallization is achieved by another, to the state-of-the-art reinforced hose that is comprised of an inner hose and an outer hose made of thermoplastic or elastomeric material and a wire helix, which is located in a helical cavity between the inner and outer hoses (DE 22 61 126 B1). A band of relatively hard thermoplastic or elastomeric material is wound between the wire helix so as to be parallel thereto, forming the helical cavity. In practice, this band has been given a metallized appearance. At the same time, the overall metallic impression is interrupted by the helical cavity between the inner and outer hoses, which is not completely filled by the wire helix.
An essentially uninterrupted metallic appearance can be achieved by another state-of-the-art hose, especially a shower hose. This shower hose includes an inner hose and an outer hose disposed over it as well as pigmentation in the area between the inner hose and the outer hose (DE 195 11 216 A1), with the outside of the inner hose and/or the inside of the outer hose being directly pigmented. This double-walled hose can also have a reinforcement, especially in the form of reinforcement threads embedded into the inner hose. Even if this double-walled hose has a solid metallic appearance, it is still not satisfactory, since the metallic color layer looks dull. In addition, this hose is not very flexible in order to limit the stretching or compression of the color layer as much as possible when the hose is bent, thus keeping it from being destroyed.
These disadvantages also apply to a sanitary facility hose that is externally very similar and that has a pigmented and/or metallized surface, with the carrier for the pigment and/or the metallization being provided by at least one hot-stamped foil which is connected to a hose exterior that is at least partially outwardly visible (EP 0 685 676 A2). The shower hose is comprised of an inner hose, which has bands or strips of a soft hot-stamped foil (consisting of a glue layer with metallized surface) glued thereon and parallel to the axis or in a helical shape, and an outer hose, which is extruded onto the inner hose and the bands as a protective layer. The hot-stamped foil pressed onto the outside of the hose, with its pigmented and/or metallized layer, is intended to go along with movements of the hose, especially stretching and compression, without showing cracks or wrinkles. In particular, the hot-stamped foil can be made to cover the whole surface in the form of four bands, each of which is wider than a quarter of the outside circumference of the hose, with mutual overlapping of the bands. As a rule, this sanitary facilities hose also can only achieve a dull metallic surface. The bands of soft hot-stamped foil contribute little strength to the structure of the hose.
Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an improved, reinforced, flexible hose in which the hose has a simple design and is highly flexible and does not fatigue or tear, even when it is frequently bent, but still has a high-gloss metallized appearance over essentially its entire surface.
This object is accomplished by a unique structure for an reinforced flexible hose of the present invention in which reinforcement bands made of an essentially unstretchable high-gloss metallized film in the shown configuration not only improve the strength and bending properties of the hose, so that even when the hose is frequently bent it does not fatigue and tear, but also achieve an aesthetic appearance that is especially appealing, since the high-gloss metallized reinforcement bands allow a high-gloss chrome effect to be achieved over practically the entire surface of the hose. The entire structure of the hose is light and makes it possible for the hose to be highly flexible. The hose owes good mechanical properties and its high-gloss metallic impression essentially to the material that is selected for the reinforcement bands and its metallizability. For this purpose, it is especially advantageous for the reinforcement bands to be made of polyester and for this polyester to have a tensile strength for reinforcement bands of certain dimensions.
A plastic film used for the manufacture of reinforcement bands, such as the polyester film, is distinguished by the fact that although it can hardly stretch in the longitudinal direction, it has very flexible bending and folding properties, which means that it withstands frequent bending changes. It is preferable for the high-gloss metallization of the film to be achieved by vapor deposition.
It is expedient for the film or the reinforcement bands made therefrom to have a transparent lacquer or glue on both sides in order to protect the metallization of the film and to achieve adhesion between the elements of the hose, especially the helical support and the outer hose, which should be solidly connected to the reinforcement bands.
To protect the metallized reinforcement bands and to improve the adhesion, they can have a PVC jacket.
The reinforcement bands are coated with a metallic gloss on only one side, which makes them favorable to manufacture, and should be disposed on a base hose in such a way that the coated glossy side faces outward.
The term xe2x80x98base hosexe2x80x99 refers to that part of the entire structure of the hose that is located beneath, in the radial direction, the reinforcement bands, or at least beneath one outer hose in which the reinforcement bands can be embedded. The base hose comprises a thin-walled, reinforced inner hose which bears at least one helical support, a plastic band with a rectangular cross section. If necessary, it is also possible for a helical wire helix to be disposed in the helical space between the helical supports. However, it can also be sufficient for the helical support itself to be made of a relatively hard material.
With the above structure of the base hose, the reinforcement bands are disposed between the helical support and an inside surface of the outer hose and glued together.
In this case, if gaps remain between the longitudinal reinforcement bands, it is possible to create a direct connection between the helical support and the outer hose in the area of the gaps, which supports the adhesion of the reinforcement bands to the helical support and the outer hose.
However, instead, the reinforcement bands can also be disposed between the first outer hose and a second outer hose which is outside the first outer hose in the radial direction and is connected thereto.
Another variant of the reinforced flexible hose is that the reinforcement bands are embedded in the single-piece outer hose. In this structure, the surface of the outer hose can be shaped as a prism comprising several flat outer surfaces with the reinforcement bands aligned in a plane parallel to them, all to simplify manufacturing or for aesthetic reasons. Thus, the reinforcement bands do not need to be curved to match the curvature of the outer periphery, especially that of a cylindrical outer hose, a process that is relatively expensive.
To produce a solid glossy metallic impression, the reinforcement bands can be disposed so as to abut one another along the longitudinal direction. The reinforcement bands can overlap at the edge where they meet. However, instead, it may suffice if gaps remain between the longitudinal reinforcement bands as described above.
It is preferable to make the reinforced flexible hose with the typical diameter of a shower hose using reinforcement bands of the indicated type which are 0.05 to 0.1 mm thick and about 3 to 6 mm wide.
Advantageously, in a sturdy reinforced flexible hose, each one of the reinforcement bands has a tensile strength of at least 10, preferably 14 Newtons, with a thickness of 0.075 mm and a width of 3 mm.